That's how long we've been living in our house here in Georgia. In fact that's the longest we've ever lived in any house. Twenty years ago if you asked me where we would retire to Georgia would not have been on my top 100 list. We'd lived here in the 1980's and liked it, but couldn't wait to return to California after Mac retired from the Army.We spent 13 years in California and we knew that though it was home, where we were both from, we didn't want to retire there. So we started seriously thinking about where we'd go.
When we lived in Georgia before it was in a town near Augusta, inland. We didn't think that was what we wanted, so we thought about what we did when we lived there and we realized that going to Savannah was one of our favorite things to do, so we decided to explore the area around Savannah, neither of us wanted to be in town, just near enough for shopping and stuff.
We did a lot of internet searching and made a couple of flights down here to explore. That's how we found our house.
After 11 years what do we still like about living here:
• love the house
• love where it sits, out in the county, on a lagoon full of fish, turtles and the odd alligator
• the people, everyone is so friendly and helpful, we've made good friends
• when someone has an appointment to be at your house they'll be there, no one is ever late
• we never have long to wait at the doctor's office, the bank, the post office, in fact anywhere
• the changing seasons especially spring and fall
What I don't like after 11 years:
• the humidity, I can deal with the heat, kind of, but the humidity is horrible
• the deer flies, you can discourage other bugs, but nothing slows the deer fly down
• all the stairs in our house, 11 at the front or up from the garage and 14 to go upstairs
Every time we talk about downsizing we realize that we really don't want to move, we just want our house to be smaller, with fewer stairs, but I don't see us going anywhere any time soon.
Our record was 18 years in the little house we built in Vermont.
ReplyDeleteI trust the currently undertaken house renovation and eventual move will be our last. I think our energy for such is flagging.
Ah, the stairs. I never thought I'd be looking for handrails!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great summation of what is important about choosing where you live. You have the most romantic beautiful house. Sometimes I would love to live somewhere where you could sit out at night and is warmer, - we're in Oakland in the Bay Area, nice during the day but chillier at night - but then that would also attract the flies I guess and this area is so bug free. The stairs must keep you fit though? I've never visited that area and would just love to!
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful house and garden, and the surroundings sound idyllic. We've been in the same house for over 20 years now, and in the same area for almost a lifetime (lifetime for husband and I came here aged 11). I'd love to make a big move, maybe to somewhere sunny but it's tricky with the kids.....maybe one day.
ReplyDeleteThe house looks absolutely beautiful but I undesrtand your concerns. I don't like the humidity where we are and I don't see us retiring here.
ReplyDeleteWe have a similar problem not knowing where do go but we will have to make up our mind before we're 65 because we don't want to be moving again after that. I also can't stand the stairs in our house right now, so will definitely be looking for something without stairs. A bungalow or an apartment, that's for sure.
Enjoy your house while you can.
Marianne from Let's Read
You can sit out here at night, the deer fly don't fly at night and the regular flies have all drowned in the pool, spray for mosquitoes though.
ReplyDelete